


Gunvolt, Chronicles of the Kingdom Key

by verifiaman



Category: Kingdom Hearts, 蒼き雷霆 ガンヴォルト | Azure Striker Gunvolt
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Kingdom Hearts Headcanons, Other, Post-Kingdom Hearts I, Pre-Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21521929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verifiaman/pseuds/verifiaman
Summary: Sora only made it to the first floor of Castle Oblivion before he and his friends were whisked away.With this new information and the destination of the boy known, Xemnas forgives his traitorous lackeys and forces them back into service. It had been generations since Xemnas or Xigbar had heard of the Lifewave, and it's power was far too dangerous in the side of the Light to pass up.Their presence mucks everything up. Nothing is as it should be. The world will soon be swallowed by it's own darkness, and the only three that can stop it have no clue.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**_Mission: Anthem_ **

**_His mission: silence the Muse and free the world from its trance. But the world has changed; this is no longer just his story._ **

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**_Report #22442_ **

**_Subject: Lifewave._ **

**_Tags: Superpower, Supernatural, Spiritual_ **

**_Planetary Threat Level: High._ **

**_Galactic threat Level: Low_ **

**_Heartless Threat Level Level: Unknown. No Heartless have made themselves known._ **

**_Course of action should this mission fail: Orbital bombardment from above._ **

**(It is a constant in our experience that a person could handle one element or ability, sometimes two, but never more than that. The only exception throughout all the worlds has been anyone worthy enough to wield the Keyblade or the legendary sorcerer Donald Fauntleroy Duck, but as of now, that has changed.**

**Thanks to your directions and mercy, I came across the world you talked about, a land not unlike where the young Keyblade wielder came from or my homeworld of Radiant Garden. It had the same landmasses, same diverse biomes and ethnicities of most of the worlds we’ve visited, and even a similar timeline. I integrated myself into the world under the name of my Somebody, and with my incredible genius and knowledge of the spiritual realm, I became a mid tier scientist of the most powerful corporation on this world the Sumeragi Corporation. I would have gotten a higher position, but given the variety of powers on display and how many Adepts have their Septimas on a top secret basis I do not wish to risk having my cover blown, or our secrets known, by someone with mastery over the mental realm.**

**During my time here, my confusion mounted as I wondered why the Heartless never even tried to come near this world. Post apocalyptic worlds like these attracts the things like maggots to decaying flesh no matter how well the populace rebuilds, and yet it is still here. I have a theory on that.** _(File: Heartless/Lifewavetheory.PDF)_ **This is a world that has experienced its first taste of the supernatural, and it went as expected; you could make a bingo card out of these by now. Swaths of land in 3rd world countries are uninhabitable or lawless wastes, and those who are connected to the Lifewave, called Adepts in this world, whose powers are on par with some of our low orbit Gummi Ships. Persecution against such beings is at an all time high, and many Adepts and normal humans have perished under these trying times. China especially has been cruel to these beings, rounding them up like rats and hunting them for sport. It would explain why there are so many frozen cities across the country's eastern seaboard. Such a waste of life, so futile, pointless, all for the sake of sadistic entertainment. Luckily the Sumeragi Corporation understands that such frivolities are beneath those who wish to see true progress. (See 2)**

  
  


**The stages of the Lifewave.**

**For the normal human, there are 6 stages of the Lifewave, with Adepts belonging to the 7** **th** **. The 1** **st** **and 3** **rd** **stages are where normal humans and lifeforms would fall into, nothing special about them whatsoever. The 4** **th** **stage of the Lifewave, the Tetrad, belong to those with some form of mystical powers, though given what I've researched, these 'powers' pale to even the weakest Nobodies we control, often giving those in that category light precognitive powers or psychic powers akin to some hack whose skills would only impress children or idiot adults.**

 **The most powerful of these weak psychics belong to the 5** **th** **wave, the Quinary, but again, nothing special. The 6** **th** **wave however, is where things get interesting. Known as the Senary wave, anyone who falls under this category are revered as gods or one of holy origin. I estimate that those who are attuned to the Quinary are on the level of Xigbar's Snipers when forced into melee combat.**

 **The 7** **th** **wave, the Septimal, is where the Adepts lie, and it is the truly dangerous one. It was thought to have been a myth for centuries, and only recently have those attuned to it become widespread. It is unknown as to what power you would get, but the variation is quite amazing! One Adept had the power to shoot fire from his mouth, another could put his skin onto any surface and devour whatever his flesh made contact with! Truly amazing.**

**And then there were the worthless ones, some that could run slightly faster, one that could lose weight faster, while the only impressive Adept in this category was one that could make his hand twist 360 degrees with no negative side effects whatsoever. I truly am curious as to the Adept that froze all those cities in China, but I have all the time in the world to figure that out**

**Attached to this text file are image and video packets containing just a tiny sample of whatever I could dig up from their public records. My cover hasn't been blown yet, but once I have more permissions, I'll include more data, and formulate an invasion plan. My hypothesis will come later, but for now, this is where I cut it off. We have an intruder on the premises, and it's time to test out my experiment.**

**I thank you for forgiving our transgressions against you, oh mighty Xemnas.**

**The Chilly Academic still lives.)**

  
**END REPORT**

* * *

In his private room, Vexen finished typing his daily report on the laptop, keeping up the cover as just a scientist with an ice Septima so utterly pathetic, it wasn't worth sealing it away; not that they could. Behind him was the Ninja Nobody, who was one of Larxene’s grunts, assigned to him for this mission, looking at the reflection on the monitor as the man mouthed to the creature what what was to be written on the report. All the while an alarm blared at an annoying rate, the sound of footfalls outside pounding in his ears. “Did you get all that?” He mouthed silently to the Ninja, who nodded. “Good.” He took a flash drive out of the processor and without looking at the Ninja, threw the device to it. “Leave.” The lesser Nobody nodded, opening up a Corridor and leaping inside as Vexen got out of his seat. “Elise dear, time to wake up.”

“I-I've been awake sir. That weird metal thing scared me too much.”

“....One step at a time it seems.” He muttered as the pale skinned, white haired girl looked up at him from her little blanket/bed on the floor, her purple eyes filled with such pitiful weakness it would make his Somebody want to protect him just like Ienzo. And then he'd get to know the little punching bag, and all that would change... even as Even he wasn’t too tolerant of those who refused to help themselves.“The intel was on the money; QUILL is here.” At the mention of the organization, her eyes sharpened. Vexen noted that the _other_ Elise still hadn't come out; the prime personality was still in control, thanks to his still limited knowledge of her inner workings. “Well at least you learned something. I'm giving you permission to use your Glaive, understand?”

“Yes sir...” Elise looked down, twiddling her thumbs. “But what if _she_ comes out?”

Vexen let out a cold, humorless laugh. “She won't. Now transform and take care of the intruder; this alarm is grating on my ears.” She got up, Vexen turning away as she got dressed, and looked when he heard the door open and close. “Hopefully she doesn't transform _in front_ of her target this time...” After a few seconds he let out a small grumble and opened a Corridor of Darkness to watch, lowering his body temperature as he let himself become ‘invisible’. The Keyblade holder and King Mickey's pets may have escaped Castle Oblivion somehow, but this was a suitable replacement. The boy and his pets were on this world somewhere, he just had to find him.

  
  
  
  


**_Main Hall 3, Lower Floor_ **

  
  


“This is SHEEPS 3. I repeat, this is SHEEPS 3!” No response! _'Damn it!'_ SHEEPS 3 continued to cling to the metallic ceiling of the janitor's closet. Magnetism, one of the few skills Asimov made sure he kept to himself,and was the only thing keeping him alive. The infiltration was going perfectly just a few minutes ago. Using his Septima, Azure Striker, he managed to find an electronic frequency that would make him invisible to the Sumeragi soldier's sensory arrays for a short time, and used the time until their suit AI unscrambled his trick to continue unabated, and within a few minutes of accessing a major computer to send all the soldiers far onto the other side of the building, he was suddenly at gunpoint. A quick duck and tagging of the soldiers was how he managed to escape, but the alarms were raised by that point, and the facility was on high alert, a man on the intercom shouting to the soldiers where to go.

 _ **[ALERT! ALERT! TARGET IS ON 4TH FLOOR! I REPEAT, TARGET IS ON 4TH FLOOR! CLOSING ALL SHUTTERS! I REPEAT CLOSING ALL SHUTTERS!]**_ Like that would stop him. Activating his Septima, he timed his Dashes between the shutters before they closed, using the hum of the electronic mechanisms that activated the shutters as a timer of sorts to do so. “First shutter, second, third, fourth...

**SLAM!**

“Damn it.” Too late on the last one. He pulled out his Gun, the Dart Leader, at the door. The 'bullets' of the gun stuck to the metal, and he could feel the hum of the motors through them. “Perfect.” Time to give them a charge.

Unbeknownst to him, however, he was being watched. _‘So we meet face to face..._ Vexen thought from his hiding place as the boy channelled electricity into the shutter to force it open. _'I’m impressed.’_ He looked more professional than the Keyblade brat or King Mickey, and as the Nobody followed the boy, he could tell his clothing was actual armor, and had cohesion in it’s design unlike the ridiculous mishmash the Keyblade Wielder decided was acceptable to wear out in public. It moved and flowed like fabric as he ran, but Vexen could tell that it was as durable as most metals, lined with some polymers and chemicals that made it able to take gunfire and extreme temperatures. The Lifewave was quite strong in the child, enough that if he wanted to, he could dethrone at least three members of the Organization….himself included. _'Loath as I am to do it, I'll have to call Larxene to this world, just in case.'_

He continued to follow the Azure Striker through the base as he killed the hapless guards with little difficulty. Actually, saying he had little difficulty was an understatement. _'The rank and file only know him by his Septima and nothing of his methods, or even a physical description; pathetic.'_ At least he did his research, having the Ninjas track down any known or theorized QUILL contacts and went from there, letting the creature spread false information over the weeks.As for why the boy hadn’t detected him, just freezing his internals to absolute zero to cut off all vital functions did that, along with a very powerful Invisible spell. This rendered him invisible to the child and the sensory arrays of the meat shields said child was mowing down. It wasn't much, just a simple trick related to his own element and Job that every element user in the Organization could do with their respective powers after Xemnas and Xigbar had them touch that Crystal. Granted if there was say, a high level telepath or a psychic around then this was utterly worthless, but it was a step up from the countermeasures Sumeragi had for their human rank and fodder. _'Now where is he going?'_ There had to have been a distraction below ground. There was too little resistance on the route the Azure Striker was taking, and Elise hadn't reported in yet on facing any resistance on her end. _'There's nothing down here though.'_ Except Romeo's sector. He'd have to introduce Larxene to the pedophilic sadist; his screams would be wonderful. Or just let the boy kill him.

Down an elevator and soon down a hall, deep underground. And just like Vexen said, there was nothing down here. Except Romeo of course, but the man's loose lips were useless in this situation. His predilection towards younger boys wasn’t recorded, but then again that man’s lips were as loose as his morals. Maybe the kid came here for revenge? Vexen would soon find out, as the boy entered Romeo's underground torture room. 

Gunvolt opened the door, only to find nothing but an empty chair and some...equipment. Yeah, that was it, and he hated the fact that he had enough experience to tell when something was for killing and when it was for...other things, but there was something else far more important to worry about.“There’s nothing here!” He put a hand to his ear. “This is Sheeps 3; the data we got was wrong! The Muse isn’t here...” Vexen felt like an idiot; it was just simple misinformation.should’ve just trusted the Ninja. Oh well, at least he could test out Elise's training. With a simple swish of the hand, a Corridor of Darkness opened a few inches away from the Azure Striker.

Shuddering for reasons unbeknownst to him, Gunvolt leaned against a wall, shooting a dart into the door as he tried contacting his team again. “This is Sheeps 3, respond!” Still no answer, and it was still so cold! It was hard enough for him to keep his Prevasion from activating out of instinct, and in addition to that problem, this operation was a complete bust! In fact, this entire _month_ had been shot to hell! Sumeragi raids on hidden caches, numerous contacts arrested, and him and his team nearly getting killed in a Sumeragi ambush! This raid had to be done on the fly, their last chance at dealing a major blow to the evil corporation, and it didn’t work! Somehow Sumeragi knew about the infiltration and how to disable his jamming, and because of that, they probably expedited the transport of Lumen’s out of here! He sent a surge of electricity into the door to open it, but before he could leave however, his instincts kicked in. “FLASHFIELD!” A barrier of pure electricity flickered into existence around his body, reducing whatever attacked him into purple dust.what he saw of the object that attacked him however, confused him. _'That looked like a snake's head.'_

“H-hello?” Weapon raised, Gunvolt quickly turned around. A Sumeragi Adept was what greeted his eyes, her armor themed after a snake, colored violets and whites, with a large purple tail swishing behind her as she twiddled her thumbs, her hands covered in snake-hood themed gauntlets. “Y-you're Gunvolt right?”

“...Yes?” How did she get in here? “Who are you?” And what was she wearing? The Sumeragi armor for Adepts was made to be as threatening as possible, despite how...skintight...the armor on this woman was. But even with the inhuman black sclera, all he could feel for this girl was an overwhelming sense of pity. “And who are you?”

“Oh!” The girl brightened up instantly. “I got it right this time! I asked some white haired guy earlier and he just kept shooting at me while speaking terrible Japanese! If it wasn't for my maste- boss and the soldiers I was with, would've died!” She pointed to him, her face filled with confidence. “In the name of my maste- I-I mean Sumeragi, I, The Eternal Envy Elise, shall t-take you in!”

Vexen continued to watch. _'Took a while to get into the Corridor, but she did it.’_ At first he thought her resistance into going through the Corridors of Darkness was because of well, basic fear, but seeing how this boy kept shivering, maybe something else was in play here. _‘Now do your job, and don’t say anything else stupid!’_ He did not need another reason for Larxene to screw with him! He raised his energy just enough for someone who teetered the mortal coil -AKA Elise- could detect. And sure enough she did, staring at him for just a second for him to utter two words 

“R-Right sir!”From the rims of her helmet came a visor that clasped around her face. “Get ready!”

“Who are you talk-”

 ** _“_ ** **_GORGON GAZE!”_**

And now to make himself known. “You did a ... decent job Elise.” Vexen congratulated as he made himself visible, eyeing the petrified Gunvolt. “But he's fighting back. Futsunomitama’s petrification abilities have a lot to be desired against those who can force their body to undergo transmutation, but this is serviceable.” As the first cracks of the stone prison began to show, Vexen put a hand on the boy's face. “You should be thankful, Gunvolt. Back in-” He could see the boy struggling, stone reverting to electricity and then flesh right in front of his eyes. “Elise?”

“Yes sir!” Vexen moved out of the way as the visor appeared over her eyes again. **_“GORGON GAZE!”_ **

“Thank you.” He put a hand on Gunvolt’s shoulder, feeling the boy reverse the process again. “ Now as i was _saying_ , Back where I come from, someone who mastered their element as easily as you have could easily shrug something like this off, but I guess this world more adheres to the laws of physics than I thought.” A twisted grin came onto his face, just as Gunvolt’s face reverted back to flesh. Freezing him from the outside won’t do any good, he’d just shatter it, no matter how much she put the boy in.. “Elise, again.”

**_“GORGON GAZE!”_ **

“Thank you. And as for you Gunvolt, I have the perfect solution to this pesky power of yours. _STOP!”_ Suddenly Gunvolt did as ordered, as if frozen in time. _‘Huh, can’t believe that worked!’_ He wasn’t even winded like the other times he used a non ice power! His smile came back on his face as the Stop spell began to slowly wear off. **_“BLIZZAGA!_ ** **”**

Elise’s retracted her visor as she stared at the petrified Gunvolt in confusion. “You didn’t do anything.” There wasn’t any ice around him, not even a bit of liquid.

“Oh trust me, I did. I’ve had experience in my old life dealing with creatures that could petrify you, poisoned you, and so on. And what my past self had learned from aiding those who’ve been stuck in petrification is that as long as you don’t damage the body, resurrection is possible with just a simple potion. To the people who analyze his body, they will just think that you simply got lucky with your powers, when in reality I simply froze the molecules in his stone form while STOP was in effect. He can’t activate that energy to matter convergence of his, and his connection to the Lifewave will be all the proof you need that this is the real Azure Striker.”

“T-thank you!” Elise shouted, sputtering compliments his way and bowing to him out of respect and missing the look of utter arrogance on Vexen’s face as he drank in the praise as much as she did his lack of respect to her very being every single day. He straightened his posture and adopted his traditional smile once she looked up. Oh, she knew he looked like a creeper with a penchant for children whenever he tried to be gentle, but given everything he did for her, she’d take it! “So what now? There was that other man who chased after me! I was lucky to hit him with my Gorgon Gaze before you teleported me, but he seemed really powerful!”

“We’ll worry about him later then. With how dangerous Gunvolt had been purported to be, they’ll probably run and hide now that their ace in the hole is gone.” And even if they didn’t, the disarray would make them easy pickings if they weren’t smart and ran away. “Let’s go. It’s time to plant some evidence. After all, you _trailed_ him, did you not?”

“Right, I did!” Elise answered, getting the hint. “The surveillance system was offline but I managed to follow him all the way down here!”

“Good girl.” Oh if only the other brats that were in the Organization’s care were as subservient as her. Then again with how she was when they first met, it made him miss Roxas’s growing independence. Almost. “We have a long week to prepare Elise. If this Diva Project is as powerful as you said it was, then the Organization’s goals will be even easier to achieve!” High pitched, almost feminine giggles escaped from his lips as he rubbed his hands together. “And once all the Adepts in Japan are under Sumeragi’s control, We’ll hijack it before it has the chance to go global! With the superior magical arts of this world combined with the more advanced technology of Ansem the Wise and hundreds of other sources, our goal will be complete!”

Elise nodded in agreement as he opened the Corridor and motioned for her to follow, and as shewatched Vexen break down into laughter and hit a pitch that would make most opera singers jealous, a smirk came onto her lips, one more fitting for her other side than the one currently in control. By this time, QUILL had aborted the mission and was on the run. If what her master says was true, they should've abandoned their hideout an hour after they lost contact with Gunvolt. _‘Yes. your goals will soon be realized!’_ Everyone would pay then, _everyone._ Her parents, her classmates, _Sumeragi,_ no one will escape what was to come! Organization XIII will have this world, and it will be in a sea of corpses, a horde of Heartless, or a legion of Nobodies! Weeks of training under Master Vexen to hone the abilities Futsunomitama gave her would finally pay off, and she will serve him and his organization with their one true goal: Kingdom Hearts!

For this world would soon be where it would soon be born. All thanks to the Lifewave Sumeragi cherished oh so much.

As the two travelled through the Darkness however, Vexen thought about earlier. _‘That Stop spell alone should have taken out half my magic, but it felt like I just used a meager Blizzard spell!’_ He had no reason to use Stop before this point, it was an emergency spell Xenmas taught him, and since it was outside of his Job Class, it drained him _immensely._ He had to use that spell a few times since he came here, most notably against that albino child in the armor and that red haired accomplice of his, but now he suffered no penalty for it! _‘Very,_ **_very_ ** _interesting!’_

**_And so with the caging of the Azure Dragon, this world’s destiny had been altered. A threat from beyond the stars had marked this world, and they were eager to bring even further ruin to it for their own goals. But darkness, like a fine wine, takes time to mature, to settle, until it is at its most potent. And anything could happen to mess it up._ **

**_For another warrior has come from the stars, this one holding the weapon that could change this world for better or for worse. For while he may have escaped Castle Oblivion, Sora will now find himself under the threat of the Lifewave, and the Adepts it empowers._ **


	2. Anthem 2

**_Mission: Anthem_ **

**_The Azure Dragon has been caged. Forces beyond the stars have made their move, and anyone who could stop them is none the wiser._ **

**_The Organization has come._ **

  
  


**_Sumeragi base, Transit Station#1_ **

  
  
  


“Sheeps 3! Sheeps 3 respond!

Surrounded by the corpses of at least 33 Sumeragi soldiers, including their famous ninja assassins, Asimov attempted to reach Gunvolt for the 6th time to no avail. “Damn it!” Did he run into one of Sumeragi's Swordsman? “This is Sheeps 2! Sheeps 3 has been captured, abort mission!” He needed to get out of here and reconvene with Zeno stat! “Meet me at the 2nd rendezvous point, I repeat, 2nd rendezvous point! With Sheep-' A surge of electricity appeared in his hands as he looked around. _'Was someone there?'_ He thought before shrugging, not seeing the thin, soulless, stealthy creature behind him with a scanner. _‘Why is it so cold around here?’_ The temperature hadn’t changed according to his visor, and he...something was wrong.

_(Sheeps1? Sheeps1 are you there?)_

“My apologies for the interruption Moniqa. You have your orders; move out!” The urge to let loose and murder every single person here was overpowering, oh so tempting, but to risk the attention of the Adept who killed his King- comrade was not something he could risk doing, or worse yet, get the attention of Nova. One word from Sumeragi command and that boy would undo the Glaives that sealed his powers, and it would be game ove-“That presence again!” And he had a feeling he just barely missed it! _'My nerves are too fried right now...'_

And as Asimov made his escape from the station, the Ninja Nobody waved it's arms in glee as it tapped the visor on its head again, Star Command's scanning technology is quite powerful when used on less technologically advanced worlds. Maybe if it showed this to the effeminate loser, he'd let it go back to Mistress again! This man would make a great Heartless!

  
  
  
  


**3 months later**

  
  


You couldn't escape it; it was everywhere.

Newspapers, TV, Social Media, you name it, you saw it. The famous terrorist, QUILL's ace in the hole the Azure Striker, had been captured, captured, turned to stone, and set up on a display with his ‘feats’ showing on holo-screens 24/7, with news anchors talking over them as the sappiest, corniest ‘sad music’ played, the public eating it up. Everyone knew about his deeds, and anyone who was anyone hated him. From the power outages, the destabilization of the infrastructure of the city in the past year he’d been here, to the thousands of innocent workers that were killed by his actions, people wanted blood.

The public was assured that he was still alive and he was still alive, ready to face retribution for his actions once his Septima was fully disabled. His frozen body paraded around like a trophy as people, both human and Adept alike, voiced their hatred of him online, the latter of which for making life harder for them with his actions. Oh, there were some supporters, the 'maybe he wasn't so bad' crowd that popped up in situations like this, doubly so this time because of the person in question's age, but that all went away as videos of his actions were shown online, how he effortlessly murdered Sumeragi soldiers pleading for their lives, killing innocent men and women doing their jobs, sometimes not even leaving a body behind! For Sumeragi and anyone who had knowledge of military organizations outside of Japan, QUILL was _finished,_ **_done_ **, and there was nothing they could do about it. 

And for one Adept in Sumeragi’s employ, skilled enough to be chosen for the blade Kogarasumaru, she had a feeling that the scientist who captured the heart of their newest and final member was to blame. He sat at his terminal in his beautiful, lovely pink office, filled with flamingos and pink puppies and sculptures of buff men and curvy women in swimsuits and-

_(#Gross boss man-lady! Please tell me you don’t use those!)_

Zonda sighed in pity, shaking her head as she laughed. “Of course I do not! Kogarasumaru may affect my personality and my need for LOVE, but I am not a debauched pervert! My beautiful rational self just buys it to shut the annoying sword up.”

_(.....)_

“Just tell my brother Gibril gave them to me as a prank.”

(Ohohohoho will do!) Teseo said with a grin. (So back to super serious business, this is all I got on the creepy old lady dude.)

* * *

Vexen Stephen Prince. 

Age:34

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Race: North American

Graduate emeritus from Sumeragi North American Institute before it was destroyed.

Profession: unknown

School history: Unknown

Septima: Ice control. F class Adept. Has been deemed a non threat. Free range of the facility with current level of clearance, no Septima locks needed.

* * *

Zonda looked at the report with dissapointment. (Just _the entry level stuff. If he’s really as suspicious as you say, he covered his tracks well. I didn't cap out my intelligence skillz enough for this, especially with the new security here! It’s a bonus boss out of a damn romhack!)_

Zonda shook his head before wiping her brow. “If only that _thing_ didn’t interfere, you might have had time to sow your oats into the Sumeragi network during our infiltration last year.” Metallon was a powerful Septima, one that _should_ have been on the side of Eden. but those three Adepts, specifically that boy, his key-shaped Galive and his frightening pitch black form ruined it, and nearly killed her!. She could still feel the fear, forced back to her true form as the boy’s hair, skin, and clothes were enveloped in that pitch black aura, beady yellow eyes staring into her soul as his friends and Gibril tried to restrain him. Even without Gibrik, the mission get into Japan was a success, albeit with a few hiccups here and there. But none of Eden could forget that day, or that boy... there was a reason Teseo was more serious nowadays; her as well. “How is dear Asroc by the way?”

_(Oh he’s good. We’ve been in the workshop frankensteining up his bod with our Septimas, and we finally got his eyes working again! I added my Teseo brand of approval to the pupils, #Edensupermacy, and it’s gonna take a couple weeks for him to notice!)_

“I see…”

_(Chill, chill! He’s not gonna find out!)_

“That wasn’t what I meant, but it is good to see my dear friend recovering! Any progress on finding those three Adepts and the girl?”

 _(Nope! They’re just gone! I looked over recording of that fight to get any hints, and from what I saw that kid do….)_ Teseo felt cold. Very cold. _(I felt normal for the first time in a long time after seeing that thing, and now I don’t.)_ He took a deep breath. _(I’m just gonna log off now, cool? Cool? Cool.)_

Teseo ended the chat, leaving Zonda with the reports to read through and memories of that boy plaguing her mind, fighting Kogarasumaru’s effects on her psyche and affecting the _real_ her. The fight was a formality, seeing as how she would get Gibril on her side, but instead the sadistic redhead went with the boy and the two animal Adepts after he returned to normal. She had to tap into her Glaive to regain focus; she’d have plenty of time to worry about that... **_thing_ **later. For now, the current situation required her attention, and how utterly screwed everything was.

The capture of QUILL’s ace in the whole was a loss for all Adepts. As much as she hated to admit it, he could admit that QUILL's presence in this country was beneficial for Adept kind, alongside Sumeragi’s ‘protection’. Aside from her own Eden, QUILL was the only other successful Pro-Adept group on the planet, and with how little man power the group had worldwide, being in a small nation allowed them to use their resources far better. But without the Azure Striker, they had no chance of stopping the Diva Project, and she herself would be slaughtered by Nova before he even let his Glaives out!. “The LOVE in the air has diminished.” She thought glumly as he stared out the window of his office in Sumeragi's main building. Here he could see the primitives talk about how much better they'd sleep without 'QUILL's Dog' being sicced on them. 

Oh, how _revolting_ their unearned arrogance was, so disgusting that even Kogarasumaru’s influence on her emotions wasn’t- “WHO'S THERE?!” He quickly turned around, her smile strained. “Again with this...”Ever since that 'Vexen' came, she had the feeling the man was watching her. Not 'her', the _real_ her. That man knew more than he let on, and the fact Elise trusted him so much was the icing on the cake. Thanks to him- and Zonda was sure that some drugs or behavioral modification was involved- what had once been a shy, very timid, weak willed girl with an evil, vicious second personality, had become a shy, timid, weak willed girl with one personality that could use her Glaive’s powers to their fullest. Thanks to her, this Vexen had access to secrets that only those connected to the Diva Project were trusted with, and to what end he was going to use that knowledge, Zonda wasn’t sure.

Things had veered off course for both Eden and QUILL, and the future for both Primitive and Adeptkind remained uncertain. Oh what she wouldn't give for her brother's guidance in this time of duress. Hopefully Desna’s mission to find the boy and his allies was going well.

  
  


**_Vexen's room_ **

  
  


So you found nothing on the dual gender?” Vexen asked the Ninja Nobody, who shook its head.”Of course...” His hunches were rarely wrong when it came to sniffing out rats. There was something off about Zonda, the Lustful Mirage,Vexen was sure of that. He was a Nobody after all, and a top tier one toot; he could tell when someone was faking emotion, and all he got from the Ninja's reports and seeing Zonda in person was that they weren't hiding anything; if anything, they desperately needed someone to gag their mouths, like the other Swordsman. Compared to the violent pyromaniac and the annoyingly patriotic egotist, Zonda fit in perfectly with Sumeragi's freaks, perhaps too well.

“Fine, you're dismissed.” The Nobody nodded and disappeared in a Corridor. He looked at the Flash Drive in his hand, stage 1 of his plan to learn all of Sumeragi's secrets. Oh how happy he was when he received this..

**2 months ago.**

_Knock knock knock_

“Oughhhh Elise, open the door.” Vexen groaned from his bed. 87 hours of researching why that Stop Spell didn’t drain him had finally taken it’s toll; thankfully he had done so much of his work in advance.

“Yes master.” He heard Elise answer. She got up and walked to the door as Vexen closed his eyes. He heard the door open, and immediately his eyes shot open as she screamed. “WAKE UP WAKE UP!”

“What?!” Vexen scrambled out of bed, landing face-first before getting up. “What’s going o-” Oh god it was Nova. and he was face to face with his underage boss while in his briefs

He could see the purple haired brat judging him, staring at his lack of clothing, then the girl who wore sensible clothing. “Not to worry; I’ve seen worse. Good afternoon Mr. Prince. I believe we have some things to discuss.”

**Present**

Two hours, 50 forms between him and Elise, and 22 NDAs later, and he was finally in on the Diva Project! No more time spent on programming those stupid mechs or going through medical reports, he could finally progress with his mission! Now he could finally get busy on the big time modifications on his oh so eager test subject without her superiors finding out!

And speak of the devil, there she was. “Sorry I'm late sir!” She shouted with a salute as she entered the room. “I-I was just cleared to go to a meeting with Master Nova along with the other Swordsmen.” She couldn't hide the giddiness in her voice, and it came out in a high pitched giggle that just _grated_ on the Nobody's ears. “I'm ready for more training!”

“Fine fine.” He supposed he had some uses for her with his added level of clearance. “Soon you'll be able to move through the Corridors of Darkness without your armor. Speaking of which, why are you-”

“-It makes me feel brave sir.” Elise answered, twiddling her thumbs. “I can stay in this form right?”

“I don't see why not. Now get in here before someone sees. Don't want any more rumors of me being into 'jailbait' because of our relationship.” And even if he _did_ have the equipment down there to do so, just _no_.

As Vexen began to sift through the archives, a familiar trio had made themselves known, far outside the reach of Sumeragi.

  
  


**_Merryweather (formerly London UK)_ **

  
  


From America to Australia, to China to Russia, there was one organization that gave hope to the oppressed Septimal population across the planet. Like the cuckoo bird, they wormed their way into the nests of organizations that promoted Adept-Human coexistence and kicked out the people that supported the original group’s ideals while converting those who were left to their own ideas of Adept Supremacy. It was all for their paradise, their utopia, and they would kill any human or Adept that stood in their way. All in the name of their Oracle. All in the name of their Eden.

And now, one of their own halted their progress, far more than any Primitive. Him and two anthropomorphic Adept allies, a dog and a duck, and a young, British child with such a bloodthirsty nature it made you wonder _why_ she was with them.

On their own, these four had undid the work Eden had done into liberating European Adepts from the human scum. Take the boy for example, a large, 3’5” club shaped like a skeleton key that he wielded like a sword. It’s guard was a bright yellow, it’s rainguard blue, and the teeth of the club shaped like the tips of a crown. His Septima revolved around elemental control, fire, water, earth,wind,electricity,and according to some reports, even gravity itself! Despite his lanky appearance, his athleticism was beyond human levels, able to jump to the top of three story houses with no problem, and could use his club like a cutting weapon, able to slash through both armor, rope, and mecha alike. Whatever organization he belonged to, if any, had impressive cloaking technology. They could only make out his weapon and voice, that was it, and not even Teseo’s abilities could remove the mosaic mess that rendered him unidentifiable.

The duck Adept, who spoke in some incomprehensible, secret language, had the same elemental affinity as the boy, only far, far more powerful. His Glaive looked like what a kid would think of when asked to make a magic staff. The handle was a dark shade of blue with a yellow, conical pommel and several yellow stars decorating its upper half. The head of the staff was connected to the handle by a zig-zagging shaft, while the head itself had a number of long spikes and several yellow stars on its back, creating the appearance of a meteor heating up upon entering the atmosphere. The head also had two periwinkle-colored, spiral-shaped "eyes" and a jagged "mouth".

The dog Adept had superior strength and durability, his Glaive resembling a large pinball bumper shield. It was circular, conical, and its colors were black and sky blue. The front of the shield was blue-white and a large, yellow anti gravity ring floated around the face of the shield. It used some form of wireless technology so that he could protect his allies from afar, blocking shots from blasters and mechs alike from a distance as far away as 10 feet! 

The less said about what the little redhead did to those who fought her, the better. In fact, many preferred to pretend she didn’t exist.

From her compound in a nondescript apartment building, Desna, the Starstruck Beauty, was quite cross. She had never been the same since the boy nearly horrified her leader and Teseo with his presence,then again none of the G7 did, but the stars told her to protect the boy and his friends. Naturally she ignored them, given what he did to her Oracle by just _standing there,_ but the visions came, again and again, until finally she contacted Zonda for advice, who simply let ordered her to bring him into their ranks, damn what her brother said. And so here she was, deep in the ruins of the UK, finding the three of them at last after four long, grueling weeks. 

And even if his Septima didn’t scar the psyches of Zonda and Teseo, what the boy was _doing_ with his powers would’ve put him on Tenjian’s bad side immediately.

She thought back to two weeks ago, when the three targets were _flying_ across a massive crater, their…’friend?’, hanging from the legs of the dog Adept. Over Twenty-three Punch Golems, two Mantis units that were smuggled out of Japan, and thirty-three armored troops were stationed across the crater to investigate a strange energy source that appeared at the center of the crater. It was an expensive venture, getting those troops into the country, repurposing the office building on such uneven terrain, and putting in a power station for the mechas, and it would have been a major blow to Eden’s research division should this project fail.

The duck, upon seeing the robots, bought out two _giant comets_ that destroyed the entire, football stadium sized facility. In just four minutes, the duck alone took out an entire facility, and the girl spent far too much time throwing the Dog Adept at the fleeing troops before the boy with the key shaped Glaive stopped her. The fact he had such control over such a psychopathic little girl was proof of his power. As was his cloaking ability. Her astrology and even the most advanced equipment Eden had could bypass the field that prevented anyone from seeing what he looked like. The only thing they knew about him was that key shaped Glaive of his, and the boost it gave to his Septima.

She had no idea where the girl was, and by god she didn’t want to know, but she found the boy and his animal Adept companions in the slums, helping the homeless population. It was easy for her to make herself look poor and destitute, and slip in without looking out of place. Dishevelled hair, using her Septima to keep some grease and dirt in her locks without it seeping in, makeup to turn her skin a sickly pale, and some fake paste-ons for her teeth to make them look rotted and cavity filled while not interfering with her ability to speak. Travelling through the ruined, upturned streets and the disease filled masses, she finally found the boy in the center of a large crowd, standing in front of a woman with what looked like gnarled growths all over her body. And teeth poking out of her cheeks. And a malformed skull. To think there was a time where this city wasn’t some hodgepodge of an apocalyptic wasteland and an Indian slum. Also good lord, his outfit was hideous! He looked like one of those characters from those JRPG’s Teseo got everyone to play now and again, with one of those costumes that looked absolutely awful in real life! Those animal Adepts were adults, at least she’s assuming they’re adults, why would they let a kid go out dressed like that?! Granted _their_ outfits weren’t much better, but still!

 _‘What are you up to?’_ He summoned his Glaive and shouted ‘CURAGA!’ pointing it at the inflicted woman. To Desna’s shock, and as she noted she was the only one surprised at this, the woman’s roots fell off her skin harmlessly. _‘My word!’_ They were still there, but even she could tell it would take a doctor hours to remove just a few of those things, and he did it in a few seconds!

“There ya go Mrs. Thompson!” She heard the boy say to the woman. He had a thick japanese accent, but had American inflections in his words, as if he spoke English more than his native language. “It’s been three weeks and they haven’t grown back until recently, so that’s good!” The woman grinned, though it was obvious it hurt like hell to do so. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about your teeth or the baby head on your left lung, but I hope at least I stopped some of the pain.” Mrs. Thompson gave him a thumbs up as she waddled away.

 _'More and more mysteries surround this boy.’_ And it was time for Eden to decipher them! Just as soon as it was her place in line. It was a good thing she had taken immunity boosters during this mission! Three long hours later she finally got to the front. The conversations she had heard along the way were filled with barely interesting or useful, just these diseased folks talking about their daily lives. The only tidbit of useful information she could gleam related to the three in front of her, and- WHY WERE HIS SHOES SO HUGE?! “Uhmm…” Don’t focus on his clothes, back onto the mission! “My apologies good sir.” She said in her best American accent. “I have come in the place of another to request your aid.”

“Can we see some proof, lady?” The dog Adept asked, his accent and mannerisms the very definition of ‘American Hick.’ “We’ve thwarted over 40 kidnapping attempts this week alone, and I’m not feeling very trustworthy.”

The duck nodded and said things Desna couldn’t understand. How was he not spitting out with ever word?

“I see.” She reached into her hair and pulled out a tablet. “This should suffice as proof.” She turned the tablet on, pressed a video on it’s desktop, and showed the three, who immediately blanched -though very slightly, she noticed- at the events folding on screen. “My friend is suffering from _that._ ” A Septima that, in theory, would allow for massive controllable bone growth and skin manipulation. Sometimes humanity’s betters weren’t so lucky with their powers. “We’ve managed to remove all the growths and the tumors around her skeleton but-”

“-That’s gonna take a while.” The boy interrupted. “Those types of growths require me to get access to that thingy in her brain that holds her Guhnetic-” The duck said something. “-Right, _genetic_ information.” The duck said something again. “Yeah, you’re right. This isn’t like Alice’s homeland levels of bad, but it’s pretty bad. “ The duck said something again, and Desna felt as though she was watching a crazy kid talk to himself. “So use Haste on her pitooetary-” The duck yelled something. “Oh, _pituitary!_ ”

The two just kept talking, Desna droning them out out of sheer irritation as the dog Adept walked up to her. “Dont’cha worry if ya can’t understand Donald.” He said, a look of sympathy and understanding on his face. Was it just her, or did he and the duck look like theme park mascots? “We had our own version of World War 2 see, and gee whiz you should’a seen him! Best medic and sorcerer in the arm, hyuck!” So they’re military? Wearing...all that? “Yeah I know we must look ridiculous in the views of your world, but back home, me and Donald were master ladykillers with these threads!”

“Ok lady, we got a plan!” The boy shouted, turning Desna’s attention to him. “Just show us where your friend is, and we’ll help!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
